13 Best Mac Photo Editors in 2023 [Incl. M1 Macs]

As an avid photographer, you go through a lot of trouble to set up the perfect photo. You may spend a lot of time preparing your subject, testing out various camera angles, and finding frames within your environment.

However, these measures may not be sufficient to establish a narrative or convey a certain mood. You may need to edit your photos using a powerful and feature-rich Mac photo editor.

Below, we take an in-depth look at the best photo editing software for Mac available in 2023. If you want to personalize and enhance your images, continue reading to learn more.

• Top 3 Mac Photo Editors Snapshot
• How to Pick a Mac Photo Editor?
• 13 Best Mac Photo Editors in 2023 [Incl. M1 Macs]
1. PhotoDirector 365 - Best Overall Mac Photo Editor
2. Affinity Photo - Best for Layer Editing
3. Photoshop - Best for Professionals
4. Lightroom - Best for Photo Management
5. Pixelmator Pro - Best for Digital Artists
6. GIMP - Best Open-Source Mac Photo Editor
7. DxO PhotoLab - Best for Lens Corrections
8. Capture One - Best for Color Adjustments
9. Luminar Neo - Best for Portrait Retouching
10. Canva - Best for Graphic Design
11. ON1 Photo RAW - Best Camera Support
12. Exposure X7 - Best for Effects
13. PhotoPad - Best for Beginners
• Best Mac Photo Editor Comparison Chart
• How to Edit Photos on Mac
• Download the Best Mac Photo Editor for Free
• Mac Photo Editor FAQ

Top 3 Mac Photo Editors Snapshot

How to Pick a Mac Photo Editor?

There are many photo editing apps for Mac out there, and they all have different strengths and weaknesses. What works for one person, may not work for you. Use our list below as a guide to help choose the best photo editing software for Mac for your specific needs.

• Toolset

Why do you use a photo editor for Mac? If you need to create YouTube Thumbnails, you’ll want a photo editor for Mac with thumbnail templates, good text options, and a background remover. If you edit headshots, you’ll need portrait retouching features. Even the best photo editing apps for Mac could be missing features essential to your needs, so be sure to check the features list before purchasing a photo editor for Mac.

• Photo Organization

Even in our list of best photo editing software for Mac, not all the software are equipped with proper organizational tools. This is a must for professional photographers and a big plus for hobbyists.

• Ease of Use

Beginners should steer clear of any of our photo editing apps for Mac that aren’t labeled “beginner-friendly.” Even professional photo editors should make sure any new photo editing apps for Mac they are considering have a pleasing user interface and tools that are easy to find.

• Price

The options in our list of best photo editing software for Mac range from free to hundreds of dollars. Try to find a photo editor for Mac in your price range that also checks off all the other boxes. Many photo editing apps for Mac offer free trials or completely free versions so you can check them out before committing.

13 Best Mac Photo Editors in 2023 [Incl. M1 Macs]

1. PhotoDirector 365 - Best Overall Mac Photo Editor

Compatibility: Mac, Windows

TechRadar Rating: 5/5

Price: $3.33/month
*Billed annually

Key Features:

1. AI-powered sky replacement
2. Lightray and sparkle effects
3. Photo animation
4. Advanced color replacement

PhotoDirector 365 is the best photo editing software for Mac on our list. It offers a combination of professional-level Photoshop and Lightroom features in one application. The intuitive user interface of this photo editor for Mac makes it possible to jump in and start editing right away, even if you are new to the product. Using this Mac photo editor’s guided editing tools, you can enhance photos with touch-up tools, add watermarks and apply AI-style effects. This photo editor for Mac includes some unique extras exclusive to PhotoDirector, such as 360-degree photo editing and innovative video-to-photo creation tools.

The organization and workflow tools you get with this software include DSLR and RAW format support, background music libraries for slideshow creations, and OpenCL technology optimization. You also get a face tag feature, GIF importing as a multi-image sequence, and GPS photo logs. The layering tools you get with this photo editor for Mac will let you separate the various elements of an image before applying adjustments. It includes the latest layering features, such as AI object segmentation, snap alignment, layer filtering, and enhanced customizable bevel.

PhotoDirector is a high-end photo editor with all the features a professional photographer may need. If you are a beginner photographer or photo editor, this is one of the easiest photo editing apps for Mac, with guided edits that make the platform easy to learn. A mix of pro-level tools and user-friendliness is why PhotoDirector is our pick for the best photo editing software for Mac.

To start creating high-quality images using the best photo editing software for Mac, download PhotoDirector 365 today.

2. Affinity Photo - Best for Layer Editing

Compatibility: Mac, Windows

Capterra Rating: 4.8/5

Price: $54.99

Key Features:

1. Noise reduction
2. RAW editing
3. 360-Degree image editing
4. HDR merge

According to our research, Affinity Photo is the best photo editing software for Mac for layer editing. Affinity offers unlimited layers, as well as mask and clipping layers, live blend modes, and non-destructive live filters. Filters can be erased, masked, or reordered after they are applied.

Affinity offers an extensive library of brushes for ultra-precise selections, making it one of the best photo editing apps for Mac. Other features include skin retouch, blemish removal, panorama stitching, and batch processing.

Affinity Photo offers fewer tools than Photoshop, but the ones it does have work better. This photo editor for Mac is also cheaper and easier to use than PhotoShop, edging it out on our list. But as far as beginner-friendly and affordable photo editing apps for Mac go, it can’t compete with PhotoDirector’s many advanced features.

3. Photoshop - Best for Professionals

Compatibility: Mac, Windows

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

Price: $20.99/month

Key Features:

1. Background swap
2. Advanced color editing
3. Digital painting tools
4. Photo blending

Adobe Photoshop is synonymous with photo editing and is a viable photo editor for Mac users. It is the best photo editing software for Mac for professionals because it offers a wide range of robust editing applications, and its retouching, masking, and layering tools are among the best available to photographers. This product also offers extensive filters and brushes and 3D design functionality.

As you become more familiar with this photo editor, you can customize your workspace to work on unique projects. You can access different preset workspaces, which lets you remove the tools you don't need for your project. The workspace options available on this Mac photo editor include Essentials Editing, Graphics and Web, 3D, and Photography.

Photoshop is a great for professional photographers and designers who need all the bells and whistles of image editing and can afford the high price. However, the interface is significantly more complex than PhotoDirector and requires a lot of time and patience to learn.

4. Lightroom - Best for Photo Management

Compatibility: Mac, Windows

G2 Rating: 4.6/5

Price: $9.99/month

Key Features:

1. RAW file editing
2. Batch processing
3. Presets for fast color correction
4. History tool keeps track of every edit

Adobe Lightroom is a user-friendly alternative to Photoshop with a relatively simplistic interface. We’ve found it to be the best photo editing software for Mac for photo management. We found we had quick and convenient access to our image library while editing with Lightroom, which let us browse our photos while editing. Images were automatically analyzed and tagged with keywords, and the image search function was filtered by file type, camera used, location, and more.

Advanced features include lens and camera corrections, repair and blurring tools, professional filters, and face detection. The brush and gradient adjustment features are also helpful in enhancing photographs.

Lightroom is a responsive and powerful photo editor for Mac for photographers, and it is one of the more straightforward tools to use. However, Lightroom doesn't offer layer editing. If you want to try different edits, play with transparency, or create multi-exposures, consider one of our top 3 Mac photo editors instead.

5. Pixelmator Pro - Best for Digital Artists

Image from Pixelmator Blog.

Compatibility: Mac

G2 Rating: 4.4/5

Price: $39.99

Key Features:

1. Replace color tool
2. RAW photo editing
3. Nondestructive edits
4. Filters and effects

Pixelmator Pro is a professional-level program and the best photo editing software for Mac for digital artists. Illustrate with a large selection of vector tools, including over 200 brand new artist-designed vector shapes in categories such as symbols, science, and activities. We found the vector tools allowed us to create resolution-independent designs with customizable smart shapes and offered support for SVG vector file format. It also comes with dual-texture brushes and a cutting-edge painting engine.

This Mac photo editor comes with an ML-Enhance mode, which uses machine learning to make color adjustments, saving you valuable time. You can remove or move objects and replace them with other image elements, such as a background. You also get access to all the basic photo editing features, such as color adjustments, cropping, and resizing.

Pixelmator lands at #5 in our best photo editing software for Mac list because it offers some high-end features at a good price and its full macOS integration makes it a good choice for Mac users. However, Pixelmator Pro lacks some of the key features you need for photo editing found in our first four offerings, such as focus stacking or panorama stitching.

6. GIMP - Best Open-Source Mac Photo Editor

Image from Davies Media Design on Youtube.

Compatibility: Mac, Windows, Linux

G2 Rating: 4.3/5

Price: Free

Key Features:

1. Graphic design tools
2. Bezier curves
3. Layer masks
4. Split-screen preview

We found GIMP to be the best open-source Mac photo editor. Unlike so many other open-source options, GIMP has plug-in support provided by its online community. It is also packed with advanced features you wouldn’t expect in a completely free photo editor for Mac.

This Mac photo editor is used by photographers, graphic designers, and illustrators because of its varied toolset. In our test, we found the retouching and restoring tools to be very precise and of high quality. It also comes with a selection of customizable brushes, a clone brush, and animation tools.

A Mac photo editor that is completely free and packed with features has to have a catch, and GIMP is no exception. GIMP has a very high learning curve and cluttered user interface. It is not for beginners but is a good option for professionals on a budget.

7. DxO PhotoLab - Best for Lens Corrections

Compatibility: Mac, Windows

PCMag Rating: 4/5

Price: $219

Key Features:

1. Superb RAW photo processing
2. Content-aware edits
3. Keyword tagging and face recognition
4. Spot removal tools

DxO PhotoLab is the best photo editing software for Mac for users needing lens corrections. The program’s automatic lens corrections compensate for every possible lens fault, such as distortion, sharpness, chromatic aberrations, vignetting, and more. It has precise handling of control points with adjustable sensitivity levels and local adjustment options.

The software is also one of the best photo editing software for Mac because of its deep learning AI technology called DxO DeepPRIME. We found the technology can demosaic, denoise, and dehaze images at top-notch quality, and can even fix old photos thought to be unusable.

DxO PhotoLab is a worthy Mac photo editor for professional photographers with extensive experience in post-processing. However, the software's interface is not beginner-friendly, which is a significant disadvantage when compared to the other Mac photo editors on our list. And while it has fantastic denoise and auto repair tools, it lacks other photo editing features. For beginner-friendly software with professional features, try PhotoDirector or Pixelmator Pro.

8. Capture One - Best for Color Adjustments

Image from dcfever.

Compatibility: Mac, Windows

PCMag Rating: 4/5

Price: $299 or $24/month for continuous upgrades

Key Features:

1. Keyword management
2. RAW image converter
3. Tethered photography
4. Batch editing

Capture One is the best Mac photo editor for color adjustments. We found our photos had incredible image quality and color accuracy thanks to true-to-life color processing. Capture One’s advanced color editor offers eight color ranges and allows you to edit only specific colors in an image. You can accurately depict skin tone quickly by using the Skin Tone Editor.

Apply up to 16 layers with this photo editor. A mask brush allows you to make a precise mask for targeted editing or object removal. Capture One includes 3 style packs including instant looks created by pro photographers. We liked the style brush, which allowed us to apply a filter to a targeted area, then use sliders to change the intensity.

Capture One has precise and powerful tools that yield high-quality results. Its features work very well, there just aren’t very many of them, especially compared to the other Mac photo editors on our list. Both Capture Once and DxO PhotoLab offer a few high-quality tools, are not beginner-friendly, and have a rating of 4 out of 5. We placed DxO higher on our list because it is slightly cheaper than Capture One.

9. Luminar Neo - Best for Portrait Retouching

Image from Photutorial.

Compatibility: Mac, Windows

TechRadar Rating: 4/5

Price: $89

Key Features:

1. Sky replacement
2. Portrait bokeh tool
3. One-Click masking tool
4. Denoise

Luminar Neo is our choice for the best photo editing software for Mac for portrait retouching. The software uses AI technology to fix skin imperfections and highlight facial features. You will find separate sections for skin, eyes, and lips and tools for slimming and adding highlights.

This is a standalone photo editor for Mac, as well as a plug-in for Lightroom, Photoshop, and the Apple Photos app. It comes with lots of AI-powered tools, including a background remover, cropping tool, a flash-recreation tool, and 6 tools for tweaking highlights, mid-tones, and shadows.

Luminar Neo offers a lot of fancy tools in a beginner-friendly package. In our testing, the AI tools were a little hit or miss, so while beginners will like the one-click fixes, intermediate to professional-level editors will miss the lack of control in this Mac photo editor. There were also very few image organizational tools - another reason we think this is one of the best photo editing software for Mac for beginners, but not pros, and why we placed it below DxO PhotoLab and Capture One. If you are looking for a photo editor with AI-powered tools, try PhotoDirector. It offers the same one-click solutions as Luminar Neo, but also has precision adjustment tools to grow with you as your editing skills develop.

10. Canva - Best for Graphic Design

Compatibility: Web Browser

PCMag Rating: 4/5

Price: $119.99/year

Key Features:

1. Background remover
2. Free cloud storage
3. Autofocus
4. PDF editor

Canva is an online photo editor for Mac and a graphic design tool used by many companies for marketing and branding purposes. Graphic designers can start with a blank slate, and hobbyists can use one of the 250,000 templates to jump-start a design. With this Mac photo editor, you can turn your photos into fun projects, such as calendars, cards, and invites, or create social media posts from this photo editor for Mac’s pre-selected aspect ratios.

For photo editing, Canva has thousands of filters, frames, stickers, and graphics to add some fun to your images. This photo editor for Mac also has thousands of options for editing and adding text. You can create logos for your brand, then save your logo, brand colors, and fonts to use in all your projects.

We found that Canva worked well as a graphic design tool but was not the best photo editing software for Mac for photographers. Its photo editing tools are very basic and are mostly used for adding fun elements to social media posts. That’s why we placed it last out of the photo editing apps for Mac that were ranked 4 out of 5.

11. ON1 Photo RAW - Best Camera Support

Image from Digital Camera World.

Compatibility: Mac, Windows

PCMag Rating: 3.5/5

Price: $99.99 or $89.99/year for continuous upgrades

Key Features:

1. AI noise reduction
2. Sky replacement
3. Liquify tool
4. Time-Lapse creator

ON1 Photo RAW is one of the best photo editing software for Mac because of its excellent format support. This Mac photo editor offers support for over 800 cameras and also supports JPEG, TIF, PSD, PSB, PNG, and DNG. Like DxO PhotoLab, ON1 Photo RAW uses deep RAW technology to maintain image quality, and make your images look the same as they did on your camera’s display.

If filters are your thing, this photo editor for Mac has hundreds of trending one-click presets and filters, as well as LUTs, textures, and borders. Apply filters to the whole image or just a selection and adjust the strength with a slider. You can also blend and combine filters.

ON1 Photo RAW has plenty to offer professional photographers, from customizable AI tools to media organization. We found this was not a beginner-friendly photo editor. It has a confusing interface and a steep learning curve. Plus, unlike most of the Mac photo editors on our list, there are no free tutorials available.

12. Exposure X7 - Best for Effects

Image from DPReview.

Compatibility: Mac, Windows

PCMag Rating: 3.5/5

Price: $129

Key Features:

1. Polygonal masking tool
2. Portrait retouch
3. Noise reduction
4. Tone curve editing

Exposure X7 is one of the best photo editing software for Mac for photo effects. Effects include film grain, bokeh, light hits, overlays, vignettes, and many more. Use radial or planar gradients to apply effects to only part of your image, and blend effects in several different ways.

We also think this is one of the best photo editing software for Mac for its photo organization tools. You can create smart collections using specific criteria. Another helpful feature is the composition guides for cropping, such as the golden ratio and golden triangle.

ExposureX7 can also be used as a special effects plug-in for Lightroom and Photoshop. We thought it had some unique and helpful tools. However, many of its essential tools did not work as well as we’d hoped, making this a better plug-in than a stand-alone Mac photo editor. That’s why we placed it behind On1 Photo RAW, although they have the same publisher rating.

13. PhotoPad - Best for Beginners

Compatibility: Mac, Windows

TopTenReviews Rating: 3/5

Price: $60 for Home Edition, $70 for Pro, or $3.88/month for continuous upgrades

Key Features:

1. Replace background
2. Non-Destructive layer editing
3. Photo effects
4. Remove blemishes

We think PhotoPad is one of the best photo editing software for Mac for beginners. The program is easy to use and the interface is accessible. And if you find yourself needing help, you can turn to the help manual, FAQs, video tutorials, user forum, or a technical support rep.

PhotoPad has all the basics covered, and even some advanced features as well. With this photo editor for Mac, you can crop, flip, rotate, resize, or add frames, clipart, or text. We also found unique features like a passport photo tool and Super Color - a tool that uses machine learning to add color to black and white photos.

PhotoPad is not a Mac photo editor for professionals. Its tools aren’t as accurate or varied as other photo editing apps for Mac on our list, like Photoshop or Lightroom. But PhotoPad is much easier to learn than the Adobe products. A good compromise is PhotoDirector 365. It is beginner-friendly, but with more advanced tools for seasoned editors.

Best Mac Photo Editor Comparison Chart

How to Edit Photos on Mac

Here is a step-by-step guide for basic photo editing with PhotoDirector, the best photo editing software for Mac.

Download this Mac photo editor for free below and follow along:

How to Crop a Photo

1. Click + next to Projects. Choose Import Photos, then choose the photo you want to edit and click Open.
2. Click Adjustment, then Manual.
3. Click the Crop icon under Regional Adjustment Tools.

Crop photo as needed by moving the corners of the crop box around your image.

How to Add a Filter to a Photo

1. Click Adjustment, then Presets.

2. Under Default Presets, choose the filter you want to use by opening the various filter folders and clicking on each one to preview.

How to Add Effects to a Photo

1. Click Guided, then Photo Effects.
2. Click on the effect you want to add, then browse the options within each category.

You can click on as many effects as you wish and see how the effect looks in the Preview Window. The effects will not be permanently applied until you save your image.

How to Produce/Export a Photo

1. Once you have finished editing your photo, find and choose the Export Selected Photos icon under the Preview Window.

If the menu under the Preview Window is hidden, go to the upper left of the Preview and click on the icon labeled Photo Viewer & Browser.


2. The Photo Export Menu will pop up. Choose Basic, then fill in the Export Destination, Name, Format, and Size. If you need to fill in Metadata or create a Watermark, you can do that under the Advanced tab.
3. Click Export.

For more information on photo editing with the best photo editing software for Mac, click here.

Download the Best Mac Photo Editor for Free

There are hundreds of photo editing apps for Mac to choose from, which can be overwhelming. Many will offer advanced features with a steep learning curve and high price. Others will be affordable and beginner-friendly but offer a limited amount of editing tools. When selecting the best photo editing software for Mac, you need to consider your unique requirements to create the perfect results.

For almost all photo editing requirements, you’ll find PhotoDirector 365 to be the best photo editor for Mac. This Mac photo editor offers all the editing tools you could ever need, including a comprehensive range of photo adjustment and layer editing features. With so many advanced tools, this photo editor for Mac is surprisingly beginner-friendly and affordable, making it the only editing software on our list to offer that trifecta!

Download the best photo editing software for Mac, PhotoDirector, and make the most of your photographic talents.